Lalu, Farooq Abdullah bat for secular front against BJP

Kolkata: Asserting it was imperative to remove the Narendra Modi government to save India from getting divided, RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Friday called upon all secular parties to unite against the BJP and the RSS.

National Conference chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah too batted for a federal front and said Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, who on the day was sworn in as West Bengal chief minister, could head such a front.

"We want all the parties having similar ideologies, the secular parties, to unite. Removing the BJP and the RSS from the centre has become imperative, so we will sit tighter and discuss about that," Lalu Prasad told mediapersons at the swearing-in ceremony here.

"If we fail to awaken in time and don't unite, the BJP and the RSS will divide the country," he added.

Expressing a similar view, Abdullah said there was every possibility of a federal front materialising.

"We will sit together, work out, and whatever is best for this nation, we will think about that.

"There is every possibility of a front that might come up, that will save India from future disaster," he said.

Asked if Banerjee could head such a front, Abdullah said: "There are a number of people. Mamataji is also one of them. She has worked for a secular India, a united India.

"For the development of every single individual of this nation, whether he belongs to the east or west, or north or south, we all will join in that process in uniting this nation together," he said.

Even as she described herself as a "less important person", Banerjee extended help to all seeking her assistance.

"I am a commoner, a less important person. But I will help all of them, no problem, if anybody wants my help. Let me work for the people," said Banerjee who has taken over the reins of Bengal for her second successive term.